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Topic: Byzantine Chant In Georgian (Read 1347 times)

Since Byzantine chant in Georgian is something of a rarity (the 'revival' only began around 10 years ago, with the blessing of H.H. Patriarch Ilia), here are some short videos I took yesterday at the Liturgy (apologies for the poor quality). There is a full length video of the service which I'll upload once I receive a copy of the DVD.

I am a Byzantine Chant snob, but I also like legitimate local traditions, so I am curious if this is supplanting traditional Georgian chant, or if traditional Georgian chant coexisted alongside Byzantine chant, or if nasty choir music supplanted both and this a revival from scratch of the most ancient tradition? I have heard three-part Georgian chanting and while I can't say I like it that much personally, I wouldn't want to see a national chanting tradition destroyed either.

The priests in question told me they were 'reviving' Byzantine chant in Georgia, rather than introducting it. I would have thought traditional Georgian chant would have sounded similar to Armenian monophonic chanting, but they told me this was not so. In either case, the polyphonic chanting styles are later developments.